Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.”
- Date
- Traditional
- Local voice
- Fictional character · Wise man of the village
Meaning of “A liar will not be believed, even when…”
Repeated deception damages credibility beyond the original lie: once listeners have learned to expect false alarms, even a later truthful warning can fail to restore belief in time.
Where does it come from?
Joseph Jacobs, The Fables of Aesop, “The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf,” Project Gutenberg #28. The wise man of the village gives the moral after the boy’s repeated false cries cause the villagers to ignore his real warning.
Why the local voice matters
In Joseph Jacobs’s version of “The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf,” the wise man gives this moral after the villagers stop responding to the boy’s false alarms.
